A few questions to people who have struggled long-term with fatigue, exhaustion, insomnia, etc.: what do you do to keep awake for a full-time workday? Black coffee, supplements, herbs, drugs/prescriptions, other? None, and it required a lifecycle habit change? Have you had success with “desk” jobs sitting all day, or had to choose a field with physical activity to keep from falling asleep on the job? Does it just “get easier” to wake up and stay up after multiple years of full-time? Before starting full-time I had only been able to get part-time gigs before, but it hasn’t taken long for me to notice my biological clock isn’t set right and every day I’m not sure if I’m “built” for it. Is anyone? Thanks Lemmy!
Just so we’re clear are you talking about literally falling asleep? If that’s the case you probably have narcolepsy.
If it’s a matter of your brain staying active enough to be able to engage, without getting frozen, a few things:
- Limit morning caffeine. It’s an upper, and uppers crash down. The down part isn’t so useful for being alert
- Limit the size of lunch
- Avoid inflammatory foods at lunch
- Get a little exercise
- Use pomodoro timer to ensure you take a break before you need one
- Hydrate well
On that last point: breaks are like pain meds: you should take one before the need for one becomes apparent. Keeping to that strict 25-5 schedule is great for keeping me close to peak in terms of my ability to do cognitive work.
For insomnia, the best thing for me is a 5-minute meditation session using a Muse 2 device (consumer neurofeedback training device, about $250 on Amazon). If I’m having recurring insomnia, a 5-minute session on the muse gives me about two weeks of insomnia relief.
Mostly though, I do indeed avoid desk jobs in favor of jobs that have at least some physical activity. My current job is about half desk, half physical work. And lots of face to face interaction too. Interacting with others keeps me energized.
Yeah, falling asleep while working at a desk for long hours straight. Not suddenly, but just overall unable to stay awake for major portions of the usual workday. The full-time position before the one I’m in now, I was at the office and would sometimes fall asleep during processing, or do orders on a sleepwalk autopilot, waking up after a few were submitted. It didn’t seem to really affect my accuracy, but it was jarring when I snapped back to. Thanks for the great advice! Probably should lower my morning caffeine, drink more water, and time my breaks instead of take them when I’m already burnt out… 300mg+ of coffee a morning without water might be too much too quickly. Limiting size of lunch isn’t an issue for me, I sometimes forget to take lunch entirely.
